But I really can't complain because everything is looking so lovely with Spring well and truly here!
Here's a summary of the goings on in the garden. Now, I want you to start singing the tune from The Gallery as you look through these:
I love this plant but can't for the life of me remember what it's called. We got it last year from the Tonbridge garden fair, which has sadly been cancelled this year. This year it's so much bigger than last, it's just lovely:
The bed is getting nice and full as the perennials from last year come back to life again:
The 100 Allium bulbs that I planter are starting to flower, which is so exciting because I LOVE alliums:
Gavin The Apple is flowering nicely, although his sister Laxtons is being a bit rubbish and hasn't flowered yet. Last year Laxton provided all of our 2 apples so looks like Gavin is trying to prove he's up to the job!
Not to be out-done, the girls also wanted to say hello. Hythe does like to stand up as high as she can so that she can see what I'm up to, so here she is on her favourite perch. The other girls never get the chance to perch while she's around! We are having a mini-chicken crisis at the moment - we caught Hythe and Bell eating an egg the other day and, as our copy of Home Farmer which arrived today told us, this is a habit which is hard to beat, and they basically recommend culling any chickens that pick the habit up! We obviously won't be doing this so we are just going to keep an eye on the situation and play it by ear but we are more than a little concerned. I'll keep you posted.
Down on the allotment, the flowers are also blooming, with these lovely blue (and pink!) bells welcoming us in:
Our peas are starting to get nice and big and strong, so we're constructing a climbing frame for them! This hazel and wire structure is going to be strung up for the peas to clamber up:
We've also taken the risk and planted out some of our Spring/Summer cabbages (keeping some in the greenhouse, just in case!) and given them a pigeon proof cage!
We've also put two of our courgette plants out, under a little glass shelter. We visited them today after a chilly morning and they seem to be doing ok, but we also have some plants in the greenhouse at home to see how they get on:
Finally, the stuff that has been on the plot for a good while now is all doing well. the Broad Beans are looking strong:
...and the fruit is all doing brilliantly. This is one of the tonnes of strawberry plants that we have that originated from our 2 "parent" plants which we got about 4 years ago. They are all flowering like mad! This is why they call it The Garden of England!
Generally, the allotment is going really well. We have made all but one of the beds and have been digging like crazy to reduce the clay and increase the soil! We found a stash of top soil near the river and have been ferrying claggy clay out and nice top soil in. It's really making all the difference. I just can't wait until it all starts growing properly!
